Wednesday, February 12, 2014

{Book Review and Giveaway} My Friend Suhana: A Story of Friendship and Cerebral Palsy

My Friend Suhana by Shaila & Aanyah Abdullah

By Shaila Abdullah & Aanyah Abdullah 
Publication Date: December 16, 2013 
 Publisher: Loving Healing Press  
 Recommended Ages: 3+ 


Summary: A simple tale of love and friendship to warm your heart. Award-winning author and designer Shaila Abdullah teams up with her 10-year-old daughter Aanyah to bring you this heartwarming tale of a little girl who forms a close bond with a child with cerebral palsy.   


I simply love it when I read a picture book and it tells a story that I can truly connect with.  As a special educator this story really touched my heart.  My Friend Sahana  is about a little girl named Sahana. Sahana has cerebral palsy.  Written in first person, Suhana's friend does a beautiful job of telling the reader about Sahana and how she lives with cerebral palsy.  The author offers a very authentic job of describing cerebral palsy.  

What I love most about this picture book, is that the descriptions and tone is so student friendly, that it truly gives the since that Sahana, is not different.  She just expresses herself differently than her peers.  The illustrations in this book are extremely colorful and vibrant.  The illustrations allow the reader to paint a true picture of the friendship of these two girls.  This picture book is just right for the young or old to help explain the characteristics of someone living with cerebral palsy.

About the Authors

Shaila & Aanyah Abdullah Shaila Abdullah is an author and designer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of two award-winning books: Saffron Dreams and Beyond the Cayenne Wall. The author has received several awards for her work including the Golden Quill Award, Norumbega Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction, Patras Bukhari Award for English Language, Reader Views Award, Written Art Award, and a grant from Hobson Foundation. My Friend Suhana is Shaila’s first children’s book. In her free time, Shaila loves to run around with her children–Aanyah and Aaliyana. Aanyah Abdullah is a creative and compassionate 10-year-old, who is drawn to children born with physical and mental disabilities. When she was in second grade, Aanyah along with her mother Shaila, started volunteering out at a local community center where they helped assist special needs children. Later Aanyah wrote an essay about her friendship with a girl in the class who had cerebral palsy. That essay is the inspiration behind My Friend Suhana. Aanyah dreams of establishing a special school for children with disabilities one day. She is known to always stand up for what is right and is-–in her parents’ and teachers’ eyes––a perfect role model for her baby sister.

Book Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon

 

* $25 Book Blast Giveaway *

Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest runs: February 12 to March 12, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Shaila Abdullah & Loving Healing Press and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.

Be sure to check out the My Friend Suhana Blog Tour

(coming Mar 4 to 11, 2014)

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